This invention relates to a device for facilitating the removal of a spring from a frame or chassis of a vehicle.
In vehicle suspensions, such as automobiles and trucks, the wheels are mounted on rock levers or knuckles, and a coil spring is inserted between the levers and the vehicle chassis or frame. Under various circumstances it is necessary to remove the spring -- to repair or replace the spring itself, to repair or replace parts of the suspension that may be damaged in a collision.
Generally, in order for the spring to be removed, it must first be compressed, then in some manner held under compression while it is removed. Various prior art tools have been used to compress and hold the spring. However, these tools have been generally unsatisfactory and also, in many cases, unsafe. Many prior art tools require the insertion of a bolt or other device longitudinally within the convolutions of the spring. Because of the tremendous force exerted by the spring on the tool, these tools have been known to fail, resulting not only in destruction of the tool itself, but also in injury to the mechanic performing the work. Heretofore, because of space limitations in most suspension systems around the periphery of the spring, no satisfactory, safe device for holding the spring in compression has been available.